They were forced to mobilize. Loyata and their assassins had declared war on them before they were completely ready. Her half-sister utterly hated having her hand tipped, but Naila was thrilled.

There were a lot of things yet to be done, but as the northern frontier they shared with the Loyatan Coalition began to be chipped away from skirmishes, they had to dedicate a fraction of their gathered army to safekeeping operations. The assassins had chosen the most cowardly of ways to try to ensure their victory, but Naila couldn't be mad at them. Her whole style of fighting was also exploiting the weaknesses of her foes, even if she was more straightforward than the elusive assassins.

But those skirmishes were distractions, the real front was the east of Ydaz. Even though the Ridged Highlands and the lower Tehen River were of the best natural defensive positions of Ydaz, the combined effort of Loyata and the assassins had managed to utterly violate the standing forts with their surprise attacks.

Not only had they managed to hide an army right until the border, but they had used their assassins in the most aggressive manner Naila had seen. At the height of the night when most soldiers were sleeping, they had infiltrated inside every neighboring fort and outpost and curtailed their necks. Ruthlessly efficient, undetected.

Then it was time for their army to push forward as they would meet little to no resistance.

It had taken three days for that news to reach Sadina. Enough time for the marching army to entrench themselves in the advantageous position that was the Ridged Highlands.

"I do not like this," Rani had said during an emergency military council back when that news arrived.

Fourteen sultanzade attended the meeting. There were more in Sadina, but war was a play for them, either an act of theatre or a board game. But there weren't many more of her half-siblings in Sadina, not all emirs, imperial scribes, or sheiks had made an act of presence. They did contribute soldiers as they were mandated by Aaliyah-al-Ydaz herself, but that was it.

The same day the demise of the bordering emirates became known, Rani gave the order to march.

As someone who was used to speed, Naila couldn't say she enjoyed much the snail's pace of their marching army. She was the head of the army, and she hated that. She wanted to be on the frontlines now! She wanted blood on her hands and face! She wanted to cut the life out of her enemies!

But alas, she was forced to remain still as she was carried along with her many half-siblings in an endless parade across half of Ydaz. Such was the difficulty of being the co-leader of the war effort, being carried in pillowy palanquins, fed grapes, and having horny soldiers willingly climb in her bed. Oh, the misery!

Naila couldn't help but look forward to the conflict, not only for her own burning desires but as a learning experience. There were many sultanzade here, especially old ones, and this would be the first time for her to see them in true battle, not pathetic skirmishes on the border or training sessions.

And considering her three best stances were speed, agility, and stealth, she had the perfect toolset to analyze them. Most expected her to be an abrasive and hotheaded juggernaut, but her skillset was focused on furtivity and surviving attacks through evasion or deflection.

With each update from the scouts, Rani's behavior intensified. It was becoming more and more obvious that she was not ready for war, she had wanted more time, and all her studies had focused on diplomacy and politicking, which was the opposite of warfare. Fields that were supposed to prevent war from happening in the first place.

What was Mother thinking about giving the command of the military to us? Naila kept asking herself. Rani wasn't a soldier, and Naila herself admitted she was still green. They weren't the worst choices, but neither were the best ones.

"Something is wrong here," Rani mused with her hands on a desk. For the first time since… ever, the emir of Sadina wore clothes that wouldn't be considered slutty. Though it was a far cry from armor, Rani's military uniform provided a lot of protection.

It never ceased to surprise Naila the logistics of the Ydazi military as they could bring with them a mahogany table as big as one out of the feast hall without issues.

"You will need to specify," Naila joined her. "What doesn't make sense? Why isn't the Loyatan army moving? How did they rape our defenses in a single night?"

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"No, I easily understand those points. Anyone with half-a-wit does, Naila." The imperial scribe of Sadina frowned but didn't respond to that jab. "No, the problem is intelligence. They knew when to attack, how to attack, and then when to stop. Their leader is far too competent and too knowledgeable. Ugh!" Rani made a gesture to flip the table but held herself at the last moment. "I'm not qualified for military operations, nince-damned Aaliyah, why me?"

So she's also got those thoughts herself, huh? Naila already had difficulties reading people, but Rani's near-constant use of the charm stance made the woman especially difficult to read.

"You know who would have been one competent on leading armies… Wait." Naila suddenly stopped midway through her sentence. It had started as a joke, but she realized something.

"Who? What are you talking about?" The amethyst-eyed emir looked at her with frustration.

"Comprehension of the geography, knowledge of the inner workings of the Ydazi military, martial and strategic competence…" Naila spoke to herself.

"What are you mumbling about?" Rani demanded.

"Hey," Naila turned to face her half-sister as she scratched her lips deep in thought. "Do you not think that the mysterious head of the Loyatan army has the qualities of Hassan?"

"What are you…" As she was about to protest, the imperial scribe's words struck deep in her mind. "That little snake!" Rani slammed the desk. "Of course! Now it all makes sense! This correlates with the reports of the unnaturally strong assassins I've been getting. That fucking manwhore is the one plotting behind the shadows. It was not enough to release a plague in my palace but now you must force me to go to war! Oof…" By the end of the sentence, the emir of Sadina was seething.

Naila couldn't help but snicker at her half-sister's words. "Were you not the one who made him leave?"

"Not now, Naila!" The imperial scribe raised her hands in defense as the emir's eyes shone purple.

"Okay, okay," she added calmly. "But what was that about the strong assassins you have said? I have not heard such reports."

"It had been rumors and speculations of the scouts, I had honestly considered snake-tongue's nonsense, but now I am not so sure."

"What are these reports about?" Naila pried for information.

"The scouts that have managed to come back alive did report how they have seen shadows who were faster than camels and strong enough to clash blades against soldiers."

"That last one does not seem as unlikely as the former," the young sultanzade said with her arms crossed.

"Assassins are commonly known to be feeble and fickle. Their foul magic destroys the mind and the body, so assassins do their best to never be caught in close combat as they would be unable to fight back."

"I guess it makes sense, not even I can clash swords with most soldiers, only redirect them." Naila mused. "So what is your conclusion, Rani?"

"I believe our dear brother," Naila almost laughed at the beginning of the sentence as half of the words were already lies, "has joined the order of the assassins."

"I cannot say I have met much with Hassan, but from what I have heard about his reputation, he is a proud leader and brilliant strategist. I doubt he would like to bend the knee to the assassins just by principles alone."

"Naila, oh dear Naila." As Rani's words overflowed with the charm stance, she almost believed the woman cared for her. "That snake will do anything to be in power. Principes? Do not make me laugh. He is not even a snake, but a rat. Vermin!"

"Yeah, I get that our half-brother is less than human, but that is not all, is it?"

"I wish," Rani gritted her teeth so hard that Naila heard them. "No, I suspect that him joining forces with the assassins was only the beginning. Now all of their uncommon tactics begin to make sense to me in retrospect. I knew he had some ties with the assassins to avoid Sadina getting terrorized by them, but I did not expect he could join them that easily."

Naila didn't say anything but couldn't help but think that Rani's hate toward the assassins was nothing short of zealous.

"Watch out, sister, you are starting to resemble our mother." She ended up adding, the temptation had been too hard to resist.

Rani scowled at her and her perfect coiffure collapsed as a single strand fell before her eyes, blocking its amethyst colors. "Do not dare joke about that."

"Then calm down," the younger sultanzade suggested. "More than one of our siblings are listening, you know?"

Upon hearing her sister's words, Rani donned the sense stance and turned her head from side to side. Yes, they were alone in the tent at the moment, but sultanzade were sneaky and insidious bastards by nature. Some were probably listening from kilometers away if their area of expertise was the sense stance or had a potent enough Nurture.

The commander of the Ydazi forces took a deep breath and recovered her composure. As much as she hated to hear it, Rani was the spitting image of Aaliyah, only if more whore-ish and less soldier-like. However, that military uniform did bridge the gap a lot. The only real difference between the two women right now was their height.

"My mind has been occupied with the counteroffensive and my sleep has been lacking, I apologize for my outburst," Rani replied with a diplomatic tone. In other words, she meant nothing of what she had said. "But the revelation that I have reached is truly severe. Naila, if your theory of our vanished half-brother Hassan being the mastermind behind the Loyatan invasion is true, I surmise that is not the worst of our problems. I do believe that Hassan has shared Nurture with the assassins."

"What?" Naila and other voices spoke at the same time as some of the sultanzade that had been listening in rushed into the tent.

Their surprise didn't come from the fact that their half-brother had betrayed them and shared their imperial magic with the assassins – they couldn't care less about that – but from the fact that they were already visualizing Aaliyah-al-Ydaz's response.

The sultanzade, the powerful superhuman warriors of Ydaz, trembled in fear at what would happen.